Byroniverse

Get to France - Thanks to Google!

Google is so helpful. Google maps will even tell you how to get from Canada to France! Check out step #23.

Remember BeOS?

No? Well, some people do. A few years back, there was a great operating system called BeOS that began to make waves in the multimedia set. A small number of geeks just loved it. And a project to recreate the defunct operating system is getting close to releasing a fully functional, free version of BeOS.

Bruce Lee, Ballroom and Win-Win Conflict Resolution

I studied martial arts for years. Often I've had people make comments to me about how fighting and (partner) dance are "so different" because one is about conflict and the other about harmony. But really it's all the same. The difference is that harmony is much more challenging in martial arts.

A Brief History of Victorian Art

We recently receiving feedback on our Swing Dynamite promotional material from someone who complained that the work "sucks" was sexually explicit. This is "sucks" as in "I should take classes because my dancing sucks." I'm sure that most of the millions of six-year-olds who use this term do not mean it in a sexual way. It's a fascinating example of how vulgarity is in the eye of the beholder, and the more sexually-minded you are, the more obscene things seem to you. This all reminds me of the history of Victorian art.

John Poole Passes Away

My great-uncle passed away Monday, January 22nd 2007. I wish I'd gotten to know him better.

Four Reasons You Might Suck At Something

As a teacher, there's one major question I keep trying to answer: why some people succeed so readily, and others have so much trouble, at improving the same skill. I think we can break it down into four reasons.

Being Really, Really Good

It's amazing. Sometimes you don't know just how good a person can get at something until you watch the person who's the very best.

Happiness Makes You Smarter!

It's the essence of religious ecstacy and enlightenment. Chassidic Jews know it, Tibetan Buddhists know it, and Anthony Robbins won't shut up about it, but the results are in: happy people are smarter and generally more successful. And furthermore, being around negative, angry people makes you less happy and possibly even less intelligent! A fabulous article by Kathy Sierra says that angry people may be bad for your brain in more ways than one.

Become Your Own Competitor

I've believed for a while in the strategy of becoming your own competitor. Think, "if I wanted to create a new brand to compete with my company's brand, what would I do?" And then do it.

May Our Competitors Thrive

Finally, an article arguing what I've believed for years: when your competitors attract more business, your market share may or may not shrink, but the overall size of the market increases. This is by Tom Peters: let your competitors thrive.

Recommended Free Software

I've put up a list of the free software I use on a regular basis both under Windows and Linux. Check out my software recommendations.